09 ago 2007Este topico, iniciado em 21 de avril, parece muito actual.
Agora algun hedge fund comença a "fechar" posiçoes. Olhar a
volatilidade no mercado (VIX).
US Financials Down; Hit On Word Of Hedge-Fund Liquidation By Greg Morcroft
Shares of U.S. financial stocks tumbled Thursday
on a report of liquidations
of at least one Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) hedge fund, and after French bank
BNP Paribas SA (BNPQY) said that it will stop valuing three of its funds and is
suspending investor withdrawals because of U.S. subprime mortgage woes. BNP Paribas said there has been a "complete evaporation of liquidity," in the
sector, highlighting the latest sign that housing market troubles in the world's
biggest economy are rippling across the globe.
The markets also raised an eyebrow when several central banks injected a total
of about $150 billion of liquidity into the financial system. The moves were
interpreted as an attempt to boost liquidity after overnight interest rates
spiked.
"The (European Central Bank) move shows that interbank financing is drying up.
The banks don't trust each other anymore," said Heino Ruland, a strategist at
Steubing in Frankfurt.
The brokers and big banks are falling because investors are worried they have
exposure on all fronts of the problem. They are invested themselves in the
market and they have loaned others money to be in the game as well.
Martin Slaney, head of spread betting at GFT Global Markets, said:
"We are not
quite at the panic stage yet, but this is beyond jitters. The ripples from the
initial subprime stone are expanding. The question is how far will the
ramifications go?" The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday that a hedge fund run by Goldman
Sachs called the North American Equity Opportunities Fund has sold some of its
positions recently.
Moreover, there has been persistent speculation that another Goldman fund,
Global Alpha, is also liquidating positions. And Black Mesa Capital, a hedge fund firm that uses computer models to track
down arbitrage opportunities, has told investors that at least one very large
hedge fund or investment bank is liquidating "massive" trading portfolios,
according to a letter the Santa Fe, N.M., firm sent to investors Wednesday.
"Clearly, something is amiss in the markets that few in our strategy, if
anyone, have experienced before," Black Mesa wrote.
The American Stock Exchange Securities Broker/Dealer Index slipped 3.4%. Bear
Stearns Cos. (BSC) sank 5.7% to $114.24; Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. (LEH)
dropped 5.2% to $61.41; Morgan Stanley (MS) fell 4.7% to $62.30; and Goldman
Sachs fell 5.1% to $183.46.
Big banks fell too, with Citigroup Inc. (C) off 3.7% at $47.64 and JPMorgan
Chase & Co. (JPM) down 4% at $44.68.
The Philadelphia Bank Sector Index fell 3.4%.
The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday that Goldman's North American Equity
Opportunities hedge fund had $767 million under management earlier this year.
The fund was down more than 15% this year, through July 27, according to
investors, and was down more than 11% in July alone.
The Goldman funds, like others reportedly liquidating big positions, are
so-called equity market neutral funds that use computers to spot mispricings in
the market and profit from them.
When investors are forced to sell big positions just to raise cash for margin
calls, or to stem losses, it causes dramatic price swings in the holdings of
such funds. Those swings are generally amplified because the funds often use
borrowed money to make their bets.
